Ultrasonic piston inspection
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-New equipment time axially extending and retracting, thus providing forward or reverse motion. The system is powered by compressed air controlled by microvalves located in a separate pod. A single umbilical, designed to minimize weight and drag and to maximize flexibility, carries all pneumatic and electrical power lines, as well as control and inspection signal wires. Mechanical performance evaluation and trials of the on-board CCD video camera and lighting module are under way, and work is advanced on the development of an ultrasonic inspection pod which will use special miniaturized, phased-array, PVDF transducers for bore and wall thickness measurement and condition assessment. The crawler will be interfaced to MicroPlus for drive control and ultrasonic imaging of corrosion/erosion maps of pipe walls. Composite B, C and D scans, colour-graphically quantized, will allow full through-wall evaluation to be executed. AEA Sonomatic Ltd, 20 Rivington Court, Hardwick Grange, Woolston, Warrington, WA 1 4RT, UK Portable instrumentation recorder StorePlus VL is a portable instrumentation recorder capable of recording up to 24 channels of DC to 100 kHz analogue signals, or 600 kb s -1 digital bit rate signals. The instrument is part of Racal's new generation of professional instrumentation recording equipment, and has applications in vibration, noise and performance monitoring, among others. StorePlus VL, the latest portable instrumentation recorderfrom Racal Recorders To meet the widest range of applications, it uses industry-standard VHS cassettes and operates from AC or DC power supplies. Its light construction ensures reliable and accurate tape handling for a wide range of portable and laboratory applications. To satisfy the needs of international users, the recorder's help functions are multi-lingual and ensure easy access to a range of powerful features and displays. These include a real-time clock/calendar/timer, automatic channel set-up, built-in track sequencing for extended record/replay times, dynamic bargraphs and dual waveform displays. The unit includes a voice channel and offers full remote control. As an option, for full system integration, a graphical user interface is available as an industry- standard package. Racal Recorders Limited, Hardley Industrial Estate, Hythe, Southampton SO4 6ZH, UK Ultrasonic piston inspection The success of pistons made by the AI-Fin process depends on the integrity of the metallurgical bond between the aluminium body and the austenitic iron ring carrier. During the quality control stages of manufacture the bond is non-destructively tested, generally using ultrasonics, to detect defective areas below the surface. The Trident system, from DeW Systems, has been developed to satisfy the needs of "cell production' circumstances, where a more expensive universal testing mechine with a full range of facilities could not be economically justified. The unit has two testing channels, so that any two areas where there is the possibility of defects, for example the crown side bond and the skirt side bond of the insert, may be tested simultaneously. Any aluminium/cast iron interface, including the rear face of the insert, may be tested on proof turned pistons. On finished machined pistons, where there is the possibility of the bond being fractured by the machining process, bonds can be tested by the through transmission technique, using in-groove transducers. The system is capable of detecting debonds with a resolution of 0.1% of the piston circumference, on one or both sides of the insert ring, and determining the total defective area around the ring. NDT&E International Volume 26 Number 5 1993 275
Transcript of Ultrasonic piston inspection
-New equipment time axially extending and retracting, thus providing forward or reverse motion. The system is powered by compressed air controlled by microvalves located in a separate pod.
A single umbilical, designed to minimize weight and drag and to maximize flexibility, carries all pneumatic and electrical power lines, as well as control and inspection signal wires.
Mechanical performance evaluation and trials of the on-board CCD video camera and lighting module are under way, and work is advanced on the development of an ultrasonic inspection pod which will use special miniaturized, phased-array, PVDF transducers for bore and wall thickness measurement and condition assessment.
The crawler will be interfaced to MicroPlus for drive control and ultrasonic imaging of corrosion/erosion maps of pipe walls. Composite B, C and D scans, colour-graphically quantized, will allow full through-wall evaluation to be executed.
AEA Sonomatic Ltd, 20 Rivington Court, Hardwick Grange, Woolston, Warrington, WA 1 4RT, UK
Portable instrumentation recorder StorePlus VL is a portable instrumentation recorder capable of recording up to 24 channels of DC to 100 kHz analogue signals, or 600 kb s -1 digital bit rate signals. The instrument is part of Racal's new generation of professional instrumentation recording equipment, and has applications in vibration, noise and performance monitoring, among others.
StorePlus VL, the latest portable instrumentation recorder from Racal Recorders
To meet the widest range of applications, it uses industry-standard VHS cassettes and operates from AC or DC power supplies. Its light construction ensures reliable and accurate tape handling for a wide range of portable and laboratory applications.
To satisfy the needs of international users, the recorder's help functions are multi-lingual and ensure easy access to a range of powerful features and displays. These include a real-time clock/calendar/timer, automatic channel set-up, built-in track sequencing for extended record/replay times, dynamic bargraphs and dual waveform displays. The unit includes a voice channel and offers full remote control. As an option, for full system integration, a graphical user interface is available as an industry- standard package.
Racal Recorders Limited, Hardley Industrial Estate, Hythe, Southampton SO4 6ZH, UK
Ultrasonic piston inspection
The success of pistons made by the AI-Fin process depends on the integrity of the metallurgical bond between the
aluminium body and the austenitic iron ring carrier. During the quality control stages of manufacture the bond i s non-destructively tested, generally using ultrasonics, to detect defective areas below the surface.
The Trident system, from DeW Systems, has been developed to satisfy the needs of "cell production' circumstances, where a more expensive universal testing mechine with a full range of facilities could not be economically justified.
The unit has two testing channels, so that any two areas where there is the possibility of defects, for example the crown side bond and the skirt side bond of the insert, may be tested simultaneously. Any aluminium/cast iron interface, including the rear face of the insert, may be tested on proof turned pistons. On finished machined pistons, where there is the possibility of the bond being fractured by the machining process, bonds can be tested by the through transmission technique, using in-groove transducers.
The system is capable of detecting debonds with a resolution of 0.1% of the piston circumference, on one or both sides of the insert ring, and determining the total defective area around the ring.
NDT&E International Volume 26 Number 5 1993 275
- N e w e q u i p m e n t .... .... ....... ......
Ultrasonic piston inspection equipment from DeW Systems
In use, a piston is hand loaded into the test position via an inlet platform. The system then rotates the piston through slightly more than one revolution, which takes about 5 sec. At the end of the cycle the system compares the ultrasonic signals received with the active standard and displays 'Accept' or 'Reject' as appropriate. The whole test takes approximately 10 s. The system will test pistons in the diameter range 75 mm to 160 mm and is adjustable to accommodate a particular size.
User defined inspection standards can be entered on the Trident, which will compute and display an Accept or Reject decision for each piston tested. It can hold up to 10 inspection standards, which are compiled using a custom software package running on an IBM-compatible PC.
In addition to the display of results on the LED readout following the test of a piston, there are various methods of
storing and recording test data on individual pistons or batches. The data may be loaded into a spreadsheet package for further analysis. This system can also be used to provide trace recordings of a test piston, allowing detailed analysis of defects.
Pistons may be also tested for conditions other than bond integrity, for example porosity, crater cracking and oil gallery position verification.
DeW Systems Ltd, Gooses Foot Industrial Estate, Kingstone, Hereford HR2 9HY, UK
LIPS for w i n d o w s
The Land Image Processing System (LIPS), designed for use with the Land Cyclops TI35sm thermal imager, is now available for use within the Windows environment. The software is compatible with other Windows programs, enabling the user to export images from LIPS in .PCX and .BMP formats into desk-top publishing programs, report generators, spreadsheets etc.
Under Windows, the software can operate live using images obtained directly from a TI35sm or replayed from a video recorder. Alternatively, it can be used to process stored images acquired previously and saved as a computer file.
Live image processing and post-processing of stored images can be performed on any PC operating Windows. By using the tool box, drop down menus, and Windows all the processing features can be accessed quickly using a mouse. Parameters such as emissivity, atmospheric correction, background temperatures and measurement units can be changed by pulling down the relevant menu.
Information can be displayed using different colour palettes as histograms and isotherms, with multiple point, profile and area measurement options available.
Colour printers can be used to produce colour printouts of processed images.
Land Infrared, Dronfield, Sheffield S18 6D J, UK
The Land Image Processing System working under Windows
276 NDT&E International Volume 26 Number 5 1993
